USA TODAY International Edition
Texas- size surprises loom as Houston 1
How can you not like a regional bracket that – if the seedings hold form – will have Texas meeting Texas A& M in the second round and wind its way to Houston and Texas playing for a spot in a Final Four being held in Houston?
Best first- round matchup: Texas A& M- Penn State
There are potential doozies here. The Texas A& M- Penn State game pairs teams that had great runs this weekend and have tremendous guard play, but both played Sunday and have to come back and play Thursday.
The selection committee did No. 6 seed Iowa State no favors with a game against the winner of a First Four matchup between Mississippi State and Pittsburgh.
Drake beat Mississippi State in a game in Lincoln, Nebraska, in December; it demolished Missouri Valley Conference regular- season champ Bradley in the conference title game; and its top scorer, sophomore guard- forward Tucker DeVries, is the son of coach Darian DeVries. That all adds up to a major challenge for Miami ( Fla.), whose thirdteam All- ACC forward Norchad Omier hurt an ankle in an Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal loss to Duke.
Potential upset: Kent State vs. Indiana
Kent State’s schedule, on the whole, did not tickle the NET rankings. But the 13th- seeded Golden Flashes went 28- 6, with three of those losses being true road games against Houston ( 49- 44), Gonzaga ( 73- 66) and College of Charleston ( 74- 72). They have a roster full of players from Big Ten country who must be delighted – and thoroughly unimpressed – by the prospect of getting a shot at the Hoosiers. Indiana has had some great moments this season, including two wins over Purdue, and it has the fabulous Trayce Jackson- Davis.
The sleeper: Miami
If Omier’s injury is not serious and it can deal with Drake, fifth- seeded Miami could well have the personnel to make a run here. Yes, it was a down year for the ACC, but tying for a regular- season ACC title is tying for a regular- season ACC title. The Hurricanes have a tough guard trio with ACC player of the year Isaiah Wong, Nijel Pack and Jordan Miller.
The winner: Texas
The season had all the makings of one that could come apart amid former coach Chris Beard’s off- the- court issues that resulted in him being fired for cause. But the Longhorns have plowed ahead under interim coach Rodney Terry, guards Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice and forward Timmy Allen. The one rub here is Allen’s recent leg injury, which resulted in him missing the Big 12 Tournament. But guess what? Texas still won, and it made Kansas look bad in the final – the second time in a week it had done that.